A New Wave of Commanders

Who’s in charge? Among others, a general, a ’soldier’s soldier’ and a shadow warrior

*From Newsweek

Oct. 29The war against terrorism has no front line and will probably never lead to a decisive battle like the climactic last day of Operation Desert Storm, when Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf’s tanks routed the Iraqis in Kuwait. But it will test the mettle of America’s military leaders just as thoroughlyand in time, may produce new heroes like Schwarzkopf and Colin Powell.

Jimmy Gurulé is one of five commanders who may be in their ranks.

Jimmy Gurulé, The Money Tracer

Jimmy Gurulé knows something about foreign manhunts. As a young federal prosecutor in Los Angeles in the late 1980s, the hard-charging Gurule oversaw the case that led to the conviction of the Mexican nationals who brutally murdered federal drug agent Enrique (Kiki) Camarena. But now Gurule is supervising an even bigger chasefinding the overseas sources of money that financed the Sept. 11 terrorist assault. Gurule, 49, became the Treasury Departments under secretary for enforcement in August. That puts him in charge of the U.S. Customs Service, the Secret Service, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. It also made Gurule, a Notre Dame Law School professor , the highest-ranking Latino law-enforcement official in the country. Gurule threw together a special team of financial analysts and investigators who began tapping into thousands of computer databases to track the hijackersmoney. At the same time Treasurys Office of Foreign Assets Controlwhich also reports to Guruledramatically expanded its efforts to block the assets of foreign terrorist groups in general. The search is daunting and Gurule has expressed his annoyance about the lack of intelligence sharing among U.S. agencies in the past. Still, he says,Were going to follow the money trail wherever it leads.